


Rewritten

by Spoiler1001



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Childhood Trauma, Eye Trauma, Harm to Children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:08:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29893335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spoiler1001/pseuds/Spoiler1001
Summary: what happened when monsters hunt the De Rolo children.companion to Beloved Secret.
Relationships: Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex'ahlia
Kudos: 10





	Rewritten

Percy wanted children once he settled down. Vex seemed to want them too. After Vax died, Vex wanted them more, Vesper was a surprise. Vax’ildan was planned, to the extent that they wanted children, but the exact date was a surprise. Vesper was 2 years old at the time. Sophia was planned. Timed and everything. When she was born with her tail wrapped around herself and two bumps where the horns would grow, he was surprised. 

The chirping was a surprise. Percival had known about Tieflings’ purring. He was a bit thrown when his child chirped before she cried. 

Most of Vox Machina had thrown names at Percival for this kid and he liked them all. Vex arranged the name order. 

He almost felt bad for laughing when he noticed.

There was a long time between Sophia and the Twins. They wanted to take a break after Sophia to get used to raising children with magic. Ten years passed between Sophia and the twins. They were not expecting twins. They didn’t expect a lot of things.

Like the invasion onto their property when the twins were just born. 

Percical was reading a book on the porch, not quite seeing the words and mostly listening to the area around him. His time as an adventurer gave him the skill of listening for all potential dangers and logging them in his mind. He knew what sounds were from his children. 

He knew what sounds weren’t. 

He was forced to his feet before he realised something was wrong. His son was running out of the woods, scared out of his mind. He was scrapped up and bloodied but otherwise fine. 

“Go to your mother.” Percival commanded, his heart sinking. The sound of crunching leaves was absent, but there was a loud bang and a pained screech. The screech was echoing. Percival felt it in his chest more than he heard it. Trees shook from the...sound? No this was some kind of spell. Snow and leaves fell off the trees and wood creaked. Percival ran towards the sound, his footsteps were muffled by the recently fallen snow. 

The trees were bent towards the perimeter of the makeshift forest that Keyleth had planted to help rejuvenate the land. The younger trees had broken completely at a 90 degree angle and the older trees were cracked. 

Sophia was on the ground, half on her side, her hand clutching her face. Blood dripped from between her index and middle finger. She seemed to be looking blankly ahead of herself, not quite looking at anything. Small little sounds left Sophia as she was frozen against a dead stump. 

Three men stood in the wooded area. They had cheap mockeries of the weapon that he had created. The weapons did not look like they were strong enough to fire the calibre that Percival used to fire, but they could still do damage. Percival was pissed. 

Black smoke built around Percy. His anger seemed all consuming. All of his grief from losing his family seemed to be resurfacing. 

Percival knew what he did on a basic level. He just couldn't remember it. His memory went from seeing his daughter injured to black smoke to holding his daughter and stumbling out of the area. Percy knew that he had broken those men when they were blinded by the smoke. 

He knew that those men were still alive when he left them there. He just knew that they won’t be getting up again. Too many crushed bones and bloodied wounds.

Sophia clung to Percival’s coat, the cold seeming to be getting to her. Her tail hung limply and she just seemed to shiver.

“It’s ok, Sweetheart. It’s all ok.” Percival whispered. Sophia just hummed. The blood seemed to soak through the coat. It was near boiling against the cold. The steps seemed to get heavier and heavier for Percival.

Vex seemed to be waiting for them outside for them to return. A snowstorm was building on the horizon. The air crystallized around them. Precipitation fell from the sky. It stung against them. Vex placed her hand on Sophia’s back. Sophia turned to face her mother, blood still dripping down her face. Percival put her down, both of them now soaking wet and shivering. 

“Sophia, look at me, darling.” Vex kelt down to look at her daughter, the child still clutching at her eye. The self-comforting sounds she made as an infant were audible. Vex grabbed her wrist and gently pulled the hand away. 

The eye was gone. It was a gory mess and even with the best magic, there was no saving it. 

“Get the doctor.” Vex looked up at Percy. “It’s going to be a long night.” 

The operation was long and despite the fires, the wait seemed to make the room colder. Hours seemed to fly by and seemed to take lifetimes to pass. Night seemed to arrive with Keyleth and Pike traveling to show their support. Percival numbly relayed what had happened, at least what he remembered. Shame made itself known on his face. 

“What did she see, Darling?” Vex asked. She knew what exactly Percy was scared of. He was letting his fears eat at him. Keyleth picked it up too. 

Finally the surgeon went to them. 

"She'll live. The bullet didn't go far. She'll wear a patch for the foreseeable future, but she'll be fine." The doctor promised. Vex made it to Sophia's bedside first. 

"Oh, darling." Sophia was deep asleep. She had a cloth covering over her eye. The whole room smelled of sanitary cleaners, and she seemed so still. 

Logic told Vex that Sophia was alive. Vex's emotions told her that Sophia was too still. There should be a chest rise. Vex had to get close to hear Sophia breathing. Percival sat by the other side of the bed. Her skin was burning against their hands.

“This cannot be allowed to happen again.” Percival frowned. “I will look to see where they got in.” 

“I will go with, Help build something to fortify the wooded area.” Keyleth spoke up.

“I’ll have Trinket keep watch. I want to see where this happened.” 

Keyleth and Vex were surprised that the trees had been knocked over. The snow had stopped falling and the sky was painted orange as the sun was setting. It reminded Percy of the fires of his forge. 

“This is very powerful magic.” Keyleth noted, looking at the downed trees, the stumps stained black from the smoke of Percy’s fury. 

“This was panic and a call for help.” Percy stopped right at the clearing. Snow covered the bodies, but it was obvious what they were. 

Ketheth looked for a moment and took a deep breath summoning vines to cover the bodies and pull them into the earth, tiny tree saplings covering the whole area. 

“How badly beaten are your knuckles, Percy?” Vex asked, grabbing his hands. Even through his gloves, she could feel the swelling around his joints and he made a small pained grunt. Keyleth sent a healing spell his way. The gloves were no longer clinging to his hand. 

“It’s nothing. I just-” Percy shook his head. “I made an effort to try to keep my cool around my children and now-” 

“Percy are you scared of our children being frightened of you?” Vex turned to face him in the eyes. 

“I want them to not be afraid of me.” Percy admitted. 

Keyleth looked around asking various critters that were brave enough to return to the flattened area. They led her to a heavily damaged wall, probably from the revolution more than fifteen years ago. Age had made the structure weaker, more climbable. 

Keyleth easily fixed it with a tone shape spell, turning dirt around her into stone for more material to work with. As she was working, three small pieces of parchment fell out of the wall. They were notes for loved ones explaining why this happened. She frowned at the thought of this. This was premeditated. These men planned on dying over this. Keyleth brought the letter to Vex and Percy. Percy crumbled them for a moment. 

“Let’s leave them where we found it, hide some guards to keep watch. Let’s see who picks that up.” Percy walked away to talk to Casaundra. 

The younger De Rolo sibling made her way to the door. 

“Was this Briarwood?” Cassandra asked.

“Nothing so composed. Some of the people in our city seem to group my daughter with the Briarwoods and don’t want another ‘monster’ as they put it ruling them.” Percival spat. “Forget the fact that I-” 

“You are not a Briarwood. You Are a De Rolo and so is Sophia.” Cassandra countered. “If they want to attack our family, we will deal with it. Should we send-” 

“I don’t want to send my daughter away, what if they go after her.” Percy ran his fingers through his hair. 

“Then what?” Cassandra asked. “We have to be careful. Where are the people who attacked her?” 

“Dead.” 

“What?” 

“I beat them to death.” 

“Oh. did she-” Cassandra gasped. 

“See? I don’t know. Frankly I’m scared to ask.” Percy sighed, his voice cracked. 

“Do you want me to talk to her? Acknowledge and make an official statement?” Cassandra hugged herself. 

“We’re waiting for some conspirators to come around, let's put them on trial.” Percy’s mind was moving many miles an hour.

“Percival. Talk to your child.” Cassandra grabbed his arm, which was shaking. 

“What if she sees me as a monster?” Percival whispered. 

“She won’t.” Cassandra promised. “You see yourself as the monster. She’ll see her father.”   
Percival followed her advice. 

He went to the room where Sophia was resting. The bed was empty. Percival’s stomach dropped. He looked around to see her bent over a small pot, her tail squeezing around herself and her whole form shivering. Retching sounds came from her small form. She seemed to be gasping and damn near hyperventilation. She wasn't aware of his presence, and her back was to the door. Angry hissing noises came from her. 

“Sophia?” Percy asked, his voice soft, the sound a mere ghost of his usually quiet voice. 

She turned towards him, not quite facing him. The spade of her tail twitched and the tail loosened its grip around herself. He had her attention. He couldn’t see her face, but he could see that she was tense. “About what happened…” 

“You melted.” Her voice was strained. “And there was yelling.” 

“Is that what you saw?” 

Sophia nodded. 

“Why did you vanish?” Sophia looked at him head on, a bit of bile still on the corner of her mouth. Her eye was wide and wet. The other was covered in cloth. 

“It’s just something that I can do. You know that black smoke that was there?” 

Sophia just nodded. 

“That was me. Magic. Like your Aunt Keyleth.” Percy knelt down and looked at her. Sophia stood up shakily. She used a sleeve of her nightgown to wipe at her mouth. 

“You didn’t leave?” Sophia asked. 

“No. I was there. I got you out.” Percy sighed. 

He felt the full force of Sophia as she made her way as fast as she could and hugged him. He hugged her close. 

“Don’t just disappear again.” Sophia demanded. 

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Percy promised. “Now let's get you to bed.” 

Percival picked her up and placed her in the bed, placing blankets on top of her. The high temperature had gone down, but rest definitely helped. Percy pulled up a chair and sat next to her. 

Soft childish snores filled the room. She was back to sleep, but with heavy chest movements this time. She was doing better. 

“How did it go.” Cassandra asked, sticking her head through the door. 

“She thought I had vanished on her.” Percy’s jaw clenched.

“Oh. poor thing. She probably needs more rest.” Cassandra smiled sadly. 

“She’s stronger than me.” Percival sighed. 

“She’s stronger than a lot of us. We found someone picking up the notes. Two women.” 

“Sisters or…”

“Wives” 

“Put them on trial.” Percival declared. 

“And their children?” 

“Put them through school. Don’t let their parents’ mistakes be their own.” Percival nodded. 

The next days were tough. The fever came and went. Sophia was tired and could barely keep broth down. The trial was had and went. There were veers at the women and some tomatoes were thrown at Sophia. Percival frowned at this. 

Sophia didn't talk much after what happened. She was quiet, constantly thinking and taking in her surroundings. 

“Sophia, have you considered what you want to do with your eye?” Vex asked. Percival was at a distance but was listening in on this conversation. 

“I want something that’s obviously not an eye that looks super cool.” Sophia nodded. 

“Aren’t you worried about-”

“Not really.” 

“You really are something else, darling.” Vex smiled and played with her hair. 

“I think it would be cool.” Sophia shrugged. 

The next day Percival, sweaty and exhausted, gave Sophia a white eye with bubbles where the pupil will be.


End file.
